


May I Have This Dance?

by Huntress79



Series: The Redemption Of Bucky Barnes [4]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Dancing, Dancing Lessons, Dancing Steve Rogers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 11:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19106419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: Three times in Bucky Barnes’ lifetime where he was dancing.





	May I Have This Dance?

**Author's Note:**

> written for **[superhero_land](https://superhero-land.livejournal.com/)** ’s [Pass-it-on Writing Challenge](https://superhero-land.livejournal.com/59169.html) and the prompt “Dance with me” by meridian_rose. Ties into my “The Redemption Of Bucky Barnes” series, where the man in question turns himself in after “The Winter Soldier”, and therefore most of the known canon of the MCU doesn’t happen (like a certain scene in Endgame _*grumble grumble*_ ) Places and names (unless known characters) are made up. Anyway, enjoy!

*********************

_Brooklyn, 1936_

“Ow!”

For once, James Barnes, widely known as “Bucky”, was glad that they had the house to themselves. His sisters, all younger than him, were at school, his mum at work in the hospital (along with Steve’s mum Sarah), and his dad was… somewhere else. It happened more these days that George Barnes would leave the house shortly after Winifred and come back late in the evening, a cloud of various disgusting smells surrounding him.

Anyway, while hopping around on one leg (again, thanks to his clumsy dancing partner), Bucky thanked every patron saint he could remember from Sunday school for the circumstances he and Steve found themselves right now. He wasn’t sure if his pride, his ego would have survived it otherwise.

“B… Bucky, I’m sorry…”

Steve stammered, not moving the fraction of an inch from the spot in the middle of the Barnes’ living room, eyes blown wide, bottom lip wobbling. Heaving a sigh, Bucky dropped the act and went over to his long-time friend, putting both hands on the frail shoulders.

“Don’t be, Stevie.” When the other guy all but dropped his chin to his chest, Bucky put a finger under it, forcing Steve to look up and subsequently into Bucky’s eyes. “Just focus on the steps.” With a slight clap on one shoulder, Bucky ambled over to the family’s gramophone, stopping the record and starting it again. Turning back to Steve, he held out a hand.

“Dance with me!”

*********************

_Red Room Facility_

If the Asset would have any of his memories, he would laugh at the turned tables here. Once upon a time, he was the one teaching his best friend how to dance, but here, the latest (and according to the leaders of the facility most promising) Black Widow trainee was teaching him some dance moves. Apparently, they were ready to pair him with her on a mission, and apparently, it was some kind of undercover mission, requiring the Asset to grace a ballroom with his (visible) audience, getting Natalia as close as possible to their target, a scientist suspected of collaborating with the Americans. Later, when Natalia had successfully separated the man from the party, the Asset would do the killing, but for now, he had to focus on something else.

“Bozhe moi,” Natalia swore under her breath, soft enough for their commanders standing along the wall not to pick it up, but loud enough for him to hear it. “You have lead in your legs, or what?” With no fear at all, the redhead looked up at him, trying to read anything in the blank eyes.

Of course, the Asset didn’t answer (a Widow trainee wasn’t supposed to talk to him, after all), but Natalia just huffed a breath, stalked over to where Madame B was standing, discussed something with her in a hushed tone, before the older woman went over to where their record player was standing.

The Asset saw her exchanging the record for another one, and while the new music began to stream into the room, Natalia came up to him, grabbed his hands and whispered to him “Dance with me”.

*********************

_Wakanda, 2017_

Stepping out of his hut, Bucky couldn’t help but grin at the sight that greeted him this morning. A bit left to the hut, some of the kids from the nearby village were dancing, with both Nakia and Shuri smacked in the middle, all of them laughing. If nothing else, it did wonders to his wounded, old soul to feel so much positive energy surrounding him.

Bucky took a quick dip into the lake, knowing that the rising sun would dry both his body and his clothes in no time. Besides, he would spend most of the day with his goats, so cleaning himself up more thoroughly would have to wait for the evening, anyway.

“Good morning, Sergeant.” Nakia was the first to greet him, though he knew that all of them had seen him. But that was the Wakandian people: they were there, but didn’t barge into your personal space until they felt you were ready for them.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Bucky began with a short nod, “your highness”, he turned to Shuri. As on any other day since they found a way to rid his brain of the remnants of the HYDRA programming, his very formal greeting caused the genius princess to double over in laughter, and this morning wasn’t any different, except for Nakia and the kids joining in (which, in turn, made Bucky laugh as well).

Catching her breath, Shuri finally left the group and came over to him, still wearing a broad smile.

“Bucky, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Shuri?” Bucky, for once, remained silent. “Yes, I’m the Princess of Wakanda,” her voice dripped with sarcasm, “but except for the title, I’m just a young woman with a given name.” She locked gazes with Bucky. “And I want you to use it, from now on.” She looked over to where Nakia had one of the girls in a tight grip with one arm, the other one trying to tickle the kid. If the squeals coming from the girl were anything to count for, T’Challa’s fiancée was succeeding. “You’re part of our people now, White Wolf, and more important, you’re part of our, of my family.” Crossing in front of him, Shuri grabbed his hand while simultaneously doing something with her Kimoyo bracelet, causing the radio to come to life with a melody.

“Come, White Wolf, there’s a dance I saw on one of those video platforms on the internet. It’s called the Milly Rock, and I wanna teach it to you.” Shuri twirled herself out and back in. “Dance with me!”

*********************

The End

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End file.
